Erika Prihadi on Being a Musician and Student

By LeAnn Mai

Self-aspiring artists and creators are the norm at NYU. In this interview with Erika Prihadi, we take a closer look at how creators manage both their academic and personal lives while still upstarting their professional careers.

Interview edited for length and clarity. 

First of all, thank you so much for joining us today! Can you give a brief introduction about yourself?

Of course! My name is Erika Prihadi! I’m a sophomore in Collaborative Arts at NYU, and my pronouns are she/her.

What inspired you to start producing and making your own music? How did you get started with making music?

My major is actually not music related–it’s more geared towards performance and visual arts, but there isn’t a big focus on music. I started pursuing music before I got into NYU. I always wanted to pursue music when I got to New York too. It started from a hobby of listening to music. Music made me feel some type of way, and I wanted to make people feel that way too. I also like singing, and so I convinced myself that I could do this, but I didn’t start songwriting until three years ago.

You said that your major at NYU is not necessarily music-oriented. Did you find that your studies here have helped you with your music career?

Yeah, definitely! I’ve met a lot of talented people in my major who also do music on the side. A lot of people in my major are super talented because we all do so many things. I was able to find connections for things like music videos, filming, illustrations (i.e. drawing and painting). It’s always helpful! In one of my classes last semester, a part of the syllabus included making music. I made a song that ended up becoming one of my favorite songs (soon to be released!). It was a funny coincidence, but everyone else in my class hated that project because music wasn’t actually written into the course. So when that assignment was announced, everyone was confused. But I enjoyed it a lot.

How do you find a balance between your academics and your personal work? Does what you learn in school benefit you career-wise?

Since I’m also in arts, everything I do within my courses can be easily integrated into my personal work. I definitely try to implement whatever I learn in school as much as possible to my music. I try to finish my work before the weekend or when I have plans, so I just find those little time slots so that I don’t have to stress about it in the end. One of my top goals is to maintain a good GPA while still getting my career stuff going. It’s a challenge, but it works!

Who is someone you look up to as a role model? Do you have a support system here in NYC? If you do, how do they help you?

I found a lot of new friends in New York. Luckily, they’re also in Tisch, so in a way, it’s very give-and-take type of friendships. I give my film friends opportunities to build their portfolios through filming my music videos. At the same time, they’re also helping me with my music videos. A lot of my friends are from the film department, and I also made friends from the Clive Davis Institute as well. I took some classes in Clive to learn more about music!

That’s amazing to hear!

It really is! The support system is great–just more and more connections. It’s never “useless” hanging out or for the fun of it. It’s always helpful, productive, and inspiring to hang out with my friends. As for role models, I’ve been listening a lot to FKA twigs. She does electronic and pop music. Her stuff is really cool, and I really love how she used to be a dancer, and she integrates that into her music. I also dance, so I want the music I create to be a segway into the dance community. I also love Aminé, and my top artists on Spotify last year and this year was Dominic Fike! I knew about him before Euphoria, but even after, I still love him :). I love what the show’s doing for him.

We’re going to transition more into your music now! I saw your most recent song was “Holding On”, released back in late November. What was the process like in terms of planning, filming, and overall putting it together? Were there any obstacles you ran into during the process?

There were a lot of learning experiences. The filming crew was from Boston, so they weren’t NYU students. At this time, I didn’t have a strong connection with NYU film students. I had just started to form connections. These people from Boston reached out first, and they were also mutual friends with someone I knew back home. I had a blanket of safety, and they sent me their work, and it was amazing. Because I worked with one of them before, it felt safe. I had one friend from NYU assist with creative direction and production. I didn’t know too much about film terms, so I accidentally got two directors. I had to turn one into a creative director. It definitely made things more complicated, and I felt really bad. Overall, it was a learning experience though. This was also my first professional set where everyone had their own roles. I learned a lot about working together and communicating with people through Zoom, text, etc. I couldn’t see these people until the shooting days (~ 3 days). Holding On was definitely a learning experience and taught me what I needed to work on for my next music video.

On the topic of your music, you’ve an EP and multiple singles. If you had to rank your top three songs, which ones, and why?

If I had to rank my top three, “Holding On” is definitely up there. I really like my first single, “Midnight Thoughts.” It’s different from what I’m doing right now, but it’s something I want to eventually segway back into. The last one would probably be “Old School.” It’s one of the songs on my EP, and it’s always been something that I really like.

What about “Holding On” makes that your favorite song?

There’s just something about it. It’s really easy to criticize your own work, because you listen to it so many times, and you end up hating it. I haven’t had much of this margin yet with “Holding On.” I would listen to it and still really like it. It’s also one of the only songs where I worked on the verses for a really long time. There were about three different drafts whereas my other songs were more free flowing.

I see you’ve been performing at places like Bowery Electric recently! What’s it like performing in front of crowds now, especially when we’re slowly integrating back to “normal”?

I’ve actually only had two shows in New York, but before that, I performed back home in Jakarta. Back in Jakarta, I’ve never done a 45 minute set before. Pre-pandemic, I still had to worry about getting sick prior to a performance, but it wasn’t as drastic as worrying about getting COVID. Now, it’s a lot more sensitive. I’ve never lived in a cold country before, and I’m really sensitive to the weather, so there are so many little factors that could potentially get me sick. It’s also me worrying about getting the people I invite to my sets sick. I don’t want to cause anything that could endanger people’s safety.

How’s it like performing in general?

Nervewracking but exciting at the same time. I have terrible stage fright, and being given a 45 minute time slot made me feel like I was going to die. I literally thought I couldn’t do it. My first show was actually supposed to be in December, but that was when I first got COVID. Inside, I was kind of glad because I was so scared to perform. Ever since the first performance, though, it got better. I just keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for fun.

Is there any advice you would give for anyone interested in writing their own music or being a part of the music industry?

Write as much as possible and make as much as possible. You don’t have to release it yet. When I first started writing, I just used online beats because I didn’t think I was capable of producing it. I eventually took a producing class, and even though I hated it at the beginning, it really pushes you. Now, I want to produce everything because it’s more original and my sound. Just start somewhere. If you know how to play the piano, you can start there and go little by little. It helps, really.

Is there anything else you want to say, just about anything?

Keep pushing everyone to make art. It’s easy to feel busy and not want to do it or hate what you make. It’s the fact that you keep doing it even if you think it’s bad that helps you improve. I went through a lot of that–hating what I make–but you don’t get better if you stop. It’s important to keep going if you really want it. Stop criticizing and comparing yourself to others who are already successful and under big labels. Obviously, they’re good, but they had to start somewhere, which is where you’re at right now.